Truck accident litigation is very tough. The truck companies are huge and they hire some of the biggest law firms in the state. They will often use a team of lawyers to dig into every aspect of the claimant's life. This can be very challenging. You need an experienced legal team to help you get through it. In this case our client stuck with us and we stuck with her. She is correct in her description, below, and her opinion, and how the insurance defense lawyers acted. Here's what she said:
At first, I said we don't need a lawyer. Believe me, we did. Ben was patient and kind and although the truck driver was at fault, we were never offered a penny until less than a week before trial date 2 years and 9 months later. (My medical bills were over $150,000.)
The first small offer was weeks after the only professional witness on their side stated in an independent exam that all my medical care was due to this accident. They never denied fault. Although my life has been dramatically affected, I found many injuries are hard to prove medically. The insurance company lawyers dug into absolutely everything in my past, affected my relationships with my personal physicians, and tried to make me feel like my life didn't matter.They were like little rats who latched on and wouldn't let go. I know I deserved more than what we got in settlement, and I still live every day with pain and limitations. I still pay several thousand dollars out of pocket yearly when I decide to once again try to find solutions to my pain.
My career I worked so hard for was destroyed. We were offered a somewhat decent settlement and I did not want to go to trial, so we settled our case. We had no way of knowing what a Northern Virginia jury would decide and Ben helped us to be realists. You can not depend upon your doctors to save your case because they don't like this kind of stuff. We knew from the beginning to not expect a very high settlement even though it was one of the most severe type of accidents that could happen.
I was fortunate to live through it and still be able to lead a somewhat decent life. There are nights I still can't sleep and sob for the pain, when I have doubts about accepting the settlement, but I have seen what the insurance company lawyers can do, and believe me, you do need a lawyer. Ben guided us through a difficult time with empathy, knowledge, and realism.
